List of references to Kamen Rider in popular culture
As a popular metaseries, the Kamen Rider Series has had several parodies and references in pop culture, especially their poses. Anime/Manga Arachnid The action manga features the character Hibiki who based his fighting style on the TV show "Kahen Rider" and later improved it by further observation of the series. Apocalypse Zero A graphic and violent manga and OVA, the show features a Fortified Armor Shell called Zero, an exosuit designed for killing monsters worn by Kakugo Hagakure. Stylistically, it resembles a Kamen Rider without a belt and the series itself is seen by some as a bad, twisted adult parody of the show. Incidentally, the suit's design was created by Keita Amemiya, who would later direct the Kamen Rider ZO and J filmsDesign In chapter 46 of Binbō-gami ga!, there is a parody of the preludes of Kamen Rider OOO, which usually happen to tell the audience what went on in previous episodes. Bleach The character Mashiro Kuna's Hollow form gives her a mask with a red scarf, she also uses a kicking based fighting style that gives her a direct reference to early Showa Era Kamen Riders. Cafe Detective Club Miyo Hatoyama is a fan of Tokusatsu, especially Kamen Rider usually doing the associated poses. * The manga features a television series known as Kamen Raider, which the main male character, Teruharu Kosukegawa is a huge fan of. Detective Conan/Case Closed *A TV show called Kamen Yaiba appears in the franchise, which is watched by the Boy Detectives. *Two posters appear in the background of a scene in episode 596 of the anime, advertising Kamen Rider Den-O & Kiva: Climax Deka and Kamen Rider 555. Kamen_Yaiba_Motorcycle.jpg|Kamen Yaiba Digimon *The anime, Digimon Tamers featured a Digimon named Justimon, whose appearance and abilities are based on Riderman. *The Digimon Silphymon's belt is based on Kamen Rider #1's Typhoon *The design of the Digimon Stingmon was inspired by Kamen Rider #1. *''Digimon Xros Wars'' had posters of Tokusatsu characters in Taiki's room that were based on Kamen Riders Double, OOO, and Fourze whenever they were shown. It should be noted that Riku Sanjo also wrote for Xros Wars, along with W'' and ''Fourze. Justimon.jpg|Justimon Silphymon.jpg|Silphymon Stingmon_toei.jpg|Stingmon Doraemon During the episode "Experimental Dream Scheme", using one of Doraemon's gadgets, Nobita enters a dream. In one of those dreams, during the fight with Big Spicy Mamma, Nobita executes a transformation by announcing "Henshin" (Transform). He called himself "Kamen Nobita" (Masked Noby in the dub). *In Dragon Ball Z, the Ginyu Force and the Great Saiyaman feature similarities to the Showa Era Kamen Riders and Super Sentai teams. Fairy Tail In the 2014 anime's 47th episode, the main protagonists try to learn Transformation Magic from Mirajane. As they attempt to utilize the magic, Wakaba and Macao are seen posing in manners similar to that of Kamen Rider 1 and Kamen Rider 2. Franken Fran *The Sentinels from the manga Franken Fran are based off the early Showa Era Kamen Riders including possessing similar costumes and techniques and the four main ones are an obvious homage to #1, #2, V3, and Riderman. Future Diary *The 12th diary owner, Yomotsu Hirasaka dons a costume and poses similar to a Kamen Rider and even has a team of brainwashed victims that functions similar to a Super Sentai team. Gintama *In episode 65 of Gintama, Sougo Okita uses Ryutaros' catchphrase and his eyes flash purple while battling Kagura. **Episode 89 of Gintama also features this visual gag. Kenichi Suzumura, who voices Ryutaros in Den-O, voices Okita in Gintama. *In episode 285 (episode 20 of season 7), Isao Kondou wears a Kamen Rider-themed mask with a cockroach motif and walks around in a festival using the alias Kamen Roachief Black RX (a name created by Kagura, also a pun of Kamen Rider Black RX). Haiyore! Nyaruko-san *This series contains countless references to all of Kamen Rider, as the title character Nyarlathotep/Nyaruko is an alien who is obsessed with Earth's popular culture (especially anime and tokusatsu) and will use quotes, special attacks, and poses from her favorite shows as part of her everyday life. She is also given to occasionally performing Kamen Rider poses apropos of nothing, as seen when she performs Takeshi Hongo's pose upon first meeting Mahiro Yasaka, the series' male lead (making this the very first pop culture reference in the entire series). The series' original creator Manta Aisora is himself a huge Kamen Rider fan, at one point joking that the story was getting so convoluted that by the tenth volume, Nyaruko would have to destroy and re-create the universe just so everything made sense again. *The covers of the original light novels (except for the first) each depict Nyaruko performing a different Kamen Rider's transformation pose; in order, these are the poses of Takeshi Hongo, Hayato Ichimonji, Shiro Kazami, Shoichi Tsugami, Daisuke Yamamoto, Joji Yuki, Ryo Murasame, Kotaro Minami, Kazuya Oki, and Kazuma Kenzaki. In an added reference, the standard release of Volume 9 has Nyaruko in a black costume performing Kamen Rider Black's pose, while the limited edition has her in a white costume performing Kamen Rider Black RX's pose; combining the two covers yields a reference to Kamen Rider Decade episode "Black × Black RX", where two parallel universe versions of Kotaro Minami join forces. These poses are repeated in the opening for the second TV season Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W, where all the members of the primary cast perform them. **The 12th and final novel's cover shows Nyaruko in Kouta Kazuraba's pre-transformation pose, made more obvious in the limited edition version where she's shown holding an orange-shaped festival lantern (the standard release instead shows her holding a super-deformed Mahiro). This novel was released on March 17th 2014, during Kamen Rider Gaim's run on Japanese television. *Nyaruko's combat form, dubbed her Full Force Form, is (as stated directly by Aisora) primarily a reference to KnightBlazer, a character from the video game Wild Arms 2, but with many Kamen Rider references added on. An official listing of Nyaruko's abilities in the novels mentions Clock Up, a dimension-cleaving mechanical sword (OOO's Medajalibur), an orange rocket-shaped propulsion unit that fits over her arm (Fourze's Rocket Module), and the ability to change people into weapons or vehicles. In particular, her pet shantak-bird Shanta-kun can change into the Machine Shantaker, which possesses a Slider Mode. *Additionally, Nyaruko's favorite television show on Earth is Kurogane no Striver (Iron Striver), a pastice of the Kamen Rider franchise borrowing elements from several different series. In particular, the main character resembles Tsukasa Kadoya (though he wears clothing reminescent of Philip) and transforms using a card-reading belt. A sequence from the show, seen in the direct-to-DVD episode "How to Defeat a Kind Enemy", even has Striver delivering one of Tsukasa's more famous quotes: "Bring it on! I'll destroy everything!" **A more comprehensive listing of Haiyore! Nyaruko-san's references to the Kamen Rider franchise (as well as all the other pop culture references it makes) can be found on the NyaruReferences blog. *In the 2015 OVA, Nyaruko: Crawling with Love F, she wields a Daidaimaru while Mahiro uses the Musou Saber to fight. Hayate the Combat Butler Episode 16 of featured "guest" appearances of the DenGasher Sword, Rod, and Ax Modes as well as cameo appearances of the Owner, Momotaros, and Hana on a train very similar to the DenLiner Gouka. DenGasher Sword as seen in Hayate no Gotoku Season 1 Episode 16.jpg DenGasher Ax as seen in Hayate no Gotoku Season 1 Episode 16.jpg Denliner as seen in Hayate no Gotoku Season 1 Episode 16.jpg Hana cameo appearance in Hayate no Gotoku Season 1 Episode 16.jpg Momotaros cameo appearance in Hayate no Gotoku Season 1 Episode 16.jpg Owner cameo appearance in Hayate no Gotoku Season 1 Episode 16.jpg Henchin Pokoider Henchin Pokoider is an adult parody gag manga by Go Nagai, a former assistant to Shotaro Ishinomori, with the title character based on the original Kamen Riders and their transformation sequences. High School DxD The anime version of this series features an Adult Video character called Kaben Rider Pinky who is played by Momo Momozono. Also, in episode 10 of the first season, just before unleashing his finishing move for the first time, Issei does a pose similar to that of Takeshi Hongo when transforming. Invaders of the Rokujyouma In episode 7 of Invaders of the Rokujyouma, there is a television show called "Rhinoceros Man, 2nd Impact", which has some reference to Kamen Rider Stronger and Kamen Rider Kabuto series. The logo of the show is similar to the logo of Kamen Rider Kabuto. The main protagonist of the show, Yamato Beetle, greatly resembles Kamen Rider Stronger with his body design similar to ZECT Riders. Yamato Beetle's ally, Atlas, Caucasus and Hercules greatly resembles the movie-exclusive Kabutick Riders from Kamen Rider Kabuto: God Speed Love. Rokujyouma Rhinoceros Man, 2nd Impact logo.jpg|The Rhinoceros Man, 2nd Impact's logo Rokujyouma Yamato Beetle.jpg|Yamato Beetle Rokujyouma Yamato Ally.jpg|Atlas, Caucasus and Hercules / In the 17th song of Vocaloid series song Kagerou Project and its 9th episode of its anime adaptation, Mekakucity Actors (lit. Blindfold City Actors), , while trying to cheer up her adopted siblings for having red eyes, Ayano said that red is the color of heroes which she demonstrates by taking a red scarf and posing while comparing it to Kamen Rider 1's pose. Later, while playing with her adopted siblings and her dad, Ayano still wore her red scarf and pretended herself to be the Graffiti Ranger, a parody of the heroes. Hence, due to her mindset that red is the color of heroes, this had made her wearing a red muffler in most of her appearance. Kill la Kill The living uniform Senketsu has glowing red veins when activated and even glows similar to Kamen Rider Faiz. Senketsu Kisaragi seems to even reference Faiz Blaster Form. In addition, the living uniform Junketsu's colour scheme has a striking resemblance to Kamen Rider Psyga. King of Braves GaoGaiGar In Episode 9, the Motorcycle Zonder enters a motorcycle dealership and begins absorbing more motorcycles to reconfigure into its giant form to attack the city. One of the motorcycles it absorbs resembles a Rider Machine. Lucky Star *Two of the live action endings portray Minoru Shiraishi with a Den-O belt while mimicking Kamen Rider #1's pose while giving out a transformation phrase. *Konata's father when utilizing static electricity calls out "Stronger". *Konata gives her father advice on buying items to help with his allergies. Before putting them on, he did the transformation pose of Kamen Rider Super-1. This sequence included an imaginary scene featuring the Cyclode belt opening up and a modified version of the instrumental variant of the show's opening theme plays in the background. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The summon Garyu is given a scarf and fighting style similar to early Kamen Riders including a Rider Kick. In episode 7 of Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, one of figures resembles Kamen Rider Den-O Sword Form with wing and blue visor color similar to Den-O Super Climax and Wing Forms respectively. The muscular armor is also a reference to Kamen Rider Kuuga Mighty Form. Medaka Box * In Chapter 40, the cyborg antagonist Koga Itami introduces herself by performing Takeshi Hongo's transformation pose and reciting an altered version of the opening narration from Kamen Rider. Akune Kouki responds by performing performing Shinji Kido's transformation pose and says that he prefers Heisei-era series, with Kamen Rider Ryuki as his favorite. These references are retained in the animated adaptation (Episode 8 of the first series). Medabots Once the mysterious thief The Phantom Renegade is hounded by the police in the second half of the 1st season, he needed to adopt a new persona to enter the World Robattle Tournament. He donned a gold mask and a red scarf and became the heroic Space Medafighter X. His poses and mannerisms seem to be a parody of the original Kamen Rider. My Monster Secret (Actually I Am...) * In Chapter 110 of the manga, principal Akane Koumoto encourages the main character Asahi Kuromine to become a superhero, with silhouetted images of Asahi dressed as Kamen Rider #1, Akaranger, and Ultraman in the background behind her. * In Episode 11 of the anime adaptation, a statue of Rider #1 on his Cyclone motorcycle and a Kamen Rider Wizard mask are among the prizes offered at a festival's shooting gallery. *In a chapter of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, there was a man who wore a mask that was very similar to Kamen Rider Double's who called himself "Nurae Rider". One-Punch Man *One of the recurring hero characters is License-less Rider ("Mumen Rider" in Japanese), whose costume is an homage to Kamen Riders 1 & 2. Unlike the Kamen Riders, however, he rides an ordinary bicycle *Genos, the series' secondary protagonist, has a backstory that strongly resembles that of the Showa-era Riders. After losing his home and family during an attack by an evil cyborg, he was saved by a kindly scientist and (at Genos' own request) was turned into a cyborg so he could become a hero and protect the innocent. License-less Rider.png Pokémon *An episode of Pokémon Best Wishes featured an episode where characters played the role of a super hero and super villain in a manner very similar to Kamen Rider. There are also two Pokémon that take inspiration from Kamen Rider, Pawniard and it's evolved form Bisharp. *A later episode of Pokemon X&Y involves Pikachu in a movie where he fights against a Libre Pikachu and an army of Pikachu combatmen similar to the classic Shocker Combatmen. The usage of the Libre Pikachu with the "Shocker Pikachu" may refer to the Mexican monster Sabotegron, who was the first monster to use the classic Combatmen as his grunts. pawniard.jpg|Pokemon #624: Pawniard bisharp.jpg|Pokemon #625: Bisharp Powerpuff Girls Z *The Powerpuff Girls have belts that are used to access their powers similar to those of Kamen Riders. *Also, in an episode, the Three Girls use a technique somewhat similar to the Rider Kick. Pretty Cure The Pretty Cure Series, a Magical Girl action anime, shares the same Sunday morning kids block with Super Hero Time and is owned by Toei. Thus, the series occasionally makes references to Kamen Rider in-show as well as its fanbase in certain instances. * In Fresh Pretty Cure, during a battle with a monster, Cure Peach does an attack that is near identical to Kamen Rider Super-1's Super Rider Moon Surface Kick attack. While it is the exact technique, she does not call it out by name. *In Heart Catch Pretty Cure, Tsubomi's grandmother's maiden name was Kaoruko Godai. While this is likely just coincidence, some viral fan art shows Tsubomi's grandma with the Arcle belt. *In Smile Pretty Cure, Kise Yayoi/Cure Peace is a fan of tokusastu shows and superheroes. She dreams of becoming a manga artist like Shotaro Ishinomori so she can create her own superheroes. In episode 5, while trying to come up with a roll call phrase, she references Kamen Rider Decade by saying "We're just passing through superheroes!" **Her fangirl status has made her a viral art meme/unofficial mascot of Tokusatsu. As many artists on sites such as Pixiv draw her and her teammates with different Kamen Rider and Super Sentai gear/costumes or meeting certain superheroes. * Dokidoki! Precure contains a couple references to Kamen Rider with the first episode featuring Mana Aida actually using Kamen Rider #1's pose and says "Henshin!" before she becomes Cure Heart. **Cure Sword's identity Makoto Kenzaki has the same surname (and kanji) as Kamen Rider Blade's identity Kazuma Kenzaki who also represents the spade and sword motif. **The Pretty Cure's transformation spells out LOVE in a manner similar to Kamen Rider Beast's transformation, with Cure Heart being heavily featured in fan art in the same manner as Beast. **Cure Heart later obtains a new finishing move that uses a similar technique to Kamen Rider Chalice. *In episode 14 of Happiness Charge Precure, Team Happiness Charge chaperones for a children's clam festival and one of the kids named Takuma is pretending to be a superhero called "Kamen Takuma", a parody of Kamen Rider, with his mask borrowing the style of Kamen Rider 1 with Stronger's color scheme, and a belt that looks like a fusion of the Typhoon and Black's King Stone. Megumi plays with Takuma, who even shouts "Toh!", like the Showa Era Riders and while Takuma searches for clams, he says "Lock ON!". Samurai Flamenco features several references and parodies to tokusatsu, Kamen Rider being the most prominent shown by references and the Typhoon Belt being shown in the protagonist Masayoshi Hazama's closet and his costume being slightly redesigned to resemble the costume worn by Kamen Riders 1 and 2. One of the episodes also features a scene where Masayoshi imagines himself in an homage to the ending of Kamen Rider Black. Sayonara, Zetsubo-Sensei The prologue to Zoku Sayonara, Zetsubo-Sensei quickly turns into a parody of Kamen Rider after its introduction about cult stories. Senki Zesshou Symphogear *Tsubasa Kazanari has a Rider Break-style move called Flash of the Rider's Blade, where the blades on her legs fold down over the front of her motorcycle as she rams her enemies. Sgt. Frog The comedy anime features several episodes that make reference to some of the more notable Kamen Rider Series including: Kamen Rider Kabuto, Den-O, and W. *The spin-off magazine Keroro Land also features a character based on the early Kamen Riders named Foruru. *Part A of episode 169 of Sgt. Frog was titled "Urere: King of the Trains" and featured the Keroro Platoon piloting various frog-themed bullet trains similar to the control of the DenLiner. The episode featured phrases such as , , and spoken by Urere (Urere replaced Momotaros's boastful with the more humble ). Urere is also voiced by Toshihiko Seki, who also provides the voice of Momotaros in Den-O. The phrase is spoken by Giroro, as these are the lyrics of "Climax Jump", the opening theme song of Den-O. Keroro also re-enacts the opening sequence of Den-O on his . *Episode 295-A of Sgt. Frog titled "Keroro, The Two of Us are One Kerororm" features the members of the Keroro Platoon finding an artifact that allows two of them to combine into a single Keroro, each with new powers. The episode title is based on Kamen Rider W's catchphrase and the resultant transformation resembles that of Kamen Rider Double (the characters appear to be split down the middle, with one side being, for example, Keroro and the other Tamama). *Episode 327-B of Sgt. Frog titled "Keroro, Invasion in a Blink!" features the members of the Keroro Platoon trying to invade Earth in Clock-Up mode. * In one episode, The Ronier aliens, enemies of the Keroros, communicate with their boss in a way identical to the Great Leader of Shocker. * In the Manga, the kids watch a 3D superhero film on a 3D HDTV, said superhero resembles Kamen Rider Fourze with a Taiko drum themed motif and utilizes drumsticks as weapons like Hibiki. * and an eggplant.]]In another manga story, a Kamen Rider resembling OOO appears on TV. Shinryaku! Ika Musume A popular television series called Nohmen Rider appears regularly in series. Terra Formars Thien from the BUGSII crew gained the abilities of a locust giving him powerful leg strength allowing kicking abilities that can easily destroy enemies which along with his serious yet compassionate personality makes him similar to early Showa Era Kamen Riders. *A chapter in The Arrival of the Yellow Dragon features one of the protagonists' Kimidori is seen doing a pose and wearing a belt and scarf similar to Kamen Rider #1. *''Tokyo Pig'' had an episode that featured a character that resembled a Kamen Rider that was brought to life through the main character's diary. Transformers: The Headmasters In episode 3, The Birth of the Fantastic Double Convoy, Optimus Prime (called Convoy in Japan) and Rodimus Prime (called Rodimus Convoy in Japan) team-up as Double Convoy, mirroring the Double Riders. Transformers Super-God Masterforce In episode 11, Ginrai: God On of Rage, when Ginrai was trying to transform into his Godmaster suit to combine with his Transtector, he said "Henshin!" Urusei Yatsura In episode 147, Ryuunosuke Fujinami is given a box containing an old outfit that once belonged to her mother. Though she initially believes it will be a dress of some kind, the outfit turns out to be a Kamen Rider costume, as Ryuunosuke's mother used to play a costumed superhero in amusement park stage shows. *The metaseries, Yu-Gi-Oh! featured several references to the Kamen Rider Series including the Masked HEROs that appeared in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX manga and the Inzektor cards that drew inspiration from Kamen Rider Kabuto. Masked Hero Acid.jpg|Masked HERO Acid Masked HERO Dark Law.png|Masked HERO Dark Law Masked Hero Dian.jpg|Masked HERO Dian Masked Hero Goka.jpg|Masked HERO Goka Masked HERO Kamikaze.png|Masked HERO Kamikaze Masked HERO Koga.png|Masked HERO Koga Masked Hero Vapor.jpg|Masked HERO Vapor Contrast HERO Chaos.png|Contrast HERO Chaos Inzektor Ant.jpg|Inzektor Ant Inzektor Centipede.png|Inzektor Centipede Inzektor Dragonfly.jpg|Inzektor Dragonfly Inzektor Earwig.png|Inzektor Earwig Inzektor Firefly.jpg|Inzektor Firefly Inzektor Giga-Cricket.png|Inzektor Giga-Cricket Inzektor Giga-Mantis.jpg|Inzektor Giga-Mantis Inzektor Giga-Weevil.png|Inzektor Giga-Weevil Inzektor Hopper.jpg|Inzektor Hopper Inzektor Hornet.jpg|Inzektor Hornet Inzektor Ladybug.png|Inzektor Ladybug Inzektor Exa-Beetle.jpg|Inzektor Exa-Beetle Inzektor Exa-Stag.png|Inzektor Exa-Stag *The Three Emperors of Yliaster, known in the English dub as the "Three Pure Nobles", the main antagonists of the third arc of "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's", resemble the cloaked forms of the Three Gorgom Priests from Kamen Rider Black. Yo-Kai Watch There is a Yo-Kai called Hovernyan who is a reference to the Kamen Riders as a whole, but more specifically Riderman. Zettai Karen Children During the 29th episode of the anime, one of the supporting characters is shackled to a table and is seen wearing a red belt with a Typhoon buckle. This is a parody reference to the first episode of Kamen Rider, as Takeshi Hongo was strapped to a table during his cyborg conversion. Cartoons *In the Fairly Odd Parents TV Movie "Channel Chasers," Timmy watches a program called "Maho Mushi." The character he imitates on screen bears a resemblance to Kamen Rider V3. Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi! *In this anime-like cartoon, sometimes, there was featured a boy nicknamed as Atchan, who wears a superhero suit similar to his favorite hero, Mangbee Man. His suit is a resemblance to Kamen Rider. The helmet in particular resembles V3's, minus the O Signal and the mouthpeice. The Amazing World of Gumball *In the episode, The Origins, when Gumball tried to stop his father from throwing away Darwin, he moves at a speed of Clock-Up, which is what Worms and the ZECT Riders use to move at super fast speed. Teen Titans *The villain Killer Moth resembles a mix between a Kamen Rider as well as the Arch Orphnoch. *In the fourth episode "New Friend, Old Enemy", Michaelangelo performs his "Secret Kata". Among the movements of the kata was Kamen Rider V3's transformation pose. *In the third episode of the second season, "Follow the Leader", Karai uses Foot Ninja Bots to attack the Turtles. When they attack they exclaim "Yii!" or "EEE!" in a manner similar to the Shocker Combatmen. Comic Books DC Comics *According to artist Chris Burnham, Jiro Osamu, the Batman of Tokyo, had his most recent costume visually inspired by both Kamen Rider 1 and from . *In Batman Incorporated Special #1, the comics further referenced the Kamen Rider series by Jiro calling out his attacks (Ex.""BAT-KICK!""). When Doctor Inside-Out tried to use knockout gas on him, he activated a gas mask which gave him a further resemblance to a Kamen Rider. Earlier, Jiro also battled a gang of female bikers who wore colored outfits Marvel In Secret Wars: Inferno Issue #3, Darkchild, an evil alter ego of the X-men mutant hero Magik, attacks Captain Britain with a spell. If readers inspect the orange magic circle of Darkchild's spell closely, they will notice it is Kamen Rider Wizard's Magical Portal. Ninja High School Sammi Kondo assumes the alter ego of Ramen Rider, which disguises her gender partly because of a bet made with her father. Appearance wise, she resembles Kamen Rider Black with Kamen Rider 1's chest armor. Transformers In the IDW run of Transformers comics, two different Kamen Rider-like Decepticon robots appear as background characters in two separate stories. One issue called "The Reluctant Specialist" featured a Decepticon who was basically a Cybertronian version of Kamen Rider V3. The second was in the issue "The Fecund Moon", an unnamed Titan Hunter who bore a resemblance to Kamen Rider Den-O Sword Form. In an Issue called "Cybertron's Most Wanted", one of the fleeing fugitives in the panel resembles Kamen Rider Amazon. All three characters were drawn by artist Matt Frank, an avid fan of the Tokusatsu genre and a writer and artist of IDW's Godzilla Comics. Climax Cybertronian.jpg|''"From start to finish, I transform at a Climax!"'' Rider In Disguise.jpg|V3.. Cybertron style. KamenRiderAmazon-CMW.jpg|What a Jaguar Shock! Unlikely Heroes Studios Super! Issue #2 This failed Kickstarter crowdfunding project was an indie comic book comedy-action series where being a superhero is not only a very common thing but can be a form of occupation for many. Some of the superheroes featured in the comic are parodies of famous superheroes or original creations. One of the superheroes on the cover art of the proposed comic is an expy of Kamen Rider 1. Live-action TV Aoi Honoo *In Episode 1, Takahashi, a classmate of Moruyu Honoo, shows him a photo of his cosplay of Takeshi Hongo on his motorcycle. Honno asks what is wrong with him and tells his classmate that "The days of Kamen Rider being thrilling at all are long over, this is the age of anime." However, he quickly changes his opinion when Takahashi mentions that the original Kamen Rider mask was blue and not green like the opening theme described, admiring his classmate's knowledge. **Honoo's comment is referencing that fact that historically by 1980, some Japanese fans felt that the plots of the franchise were getting dull and repetitive despite both Skyrider and Kamen Rider Super-1 keeping the franchise going, resulting in a 5 year hiatus from TV. Meanwhile, anime was slowly reaching a golden period of high quality shows and films such as the works of Yoshiyuki Tomino like Mobile Suit Gundam or the rise of Hayao Miyazaki's career to super-stardom. *In Episode 2, Honoo is talking whilst sitting on a motorcycle. When Yano asks if the motorcycle is his, Honoo says it isn't his but he feels it makes him look cool sitting on it as the bike reminds him of Kamen Rider 1's Cyclone *There are multiple references to Shotaro Ishinomori throughout the series, as in 1980 where the show takes place, he was still at the peak of his career and well respected in the manga artist community. *In Episode 3, the Osaka Arts University professor asks his class to make TV commercials to promote a product of their choice as an assignment. One of the student film commercials shown was for the sports drink with a Kamen Rider-like hero that transforms using a soda can-themed belt. *In Episode 4, Honoo visits Tokyo and reenacts famous running scenes from Japanese anime, TV and film. Among the ones he performed, he did the "Hiroshi Fujioka Stair Ascent". To help his friend work on his manga project, he suggests they do what Shotaro Ishinomori did while writing manuscripts for his Cyborg 009 and Kamen Rider mangas and work on it in a cafe. *In Episode 7, Anno and his classmates meet with a friend of his about his proposal to animate an opening intro for Daicon III. (A fateful event that would eventually result in the birth of the anime studio Gainax) When Anno's friend says they must meet with a wealthy kid named to get financial backing or face his wrath, Anoo responds in agreement by saying :"Let's go.. before Shocker attacks us, we will strike at their base!" *There is a scene in Episode 8 where a young fictionalized believes that he is inside a Shocker base and that he and his friends are going to be captured and converted into cyborgs. During this delusion, the Shocker emblem can clearly be seen. Earlier, during his entrance into Okada's house, Anno references that the creepiness of the house reminds him of Episode 13 of Kamen Rider. *In Episode 9, Honoo tries to come up with a 3 minute anime for a class project. While thinking of the concept, he realizes he needs a villain to add texture to the story. While pondering what he should make, he notes that Kamen Rider's Shocker was founded by the remnants of the Nazis. *In the credits of the final episode of the series, behind the scenes footage is shown of the real manga and anime artists interacting with the cast. Kazuhiko Shimamoto, who played the Honda salesmen who gives Honoo (a character based on himself) advice on his future, does part of Kamen Rider 2's henshin pose off set. Figurines of Kamen Riders #1 and V3 can be seen in the background during the episode "Mosbius Designs". There has also been a few shout-outs to the Kamen Rider Series in its sister tokusatsu franchise, depsite the fact that the two series have only officially crossed-over on several occasions, most recently in . *In , the Psyma Beast tries to transform into GoRed using the transformation pose of Kamen Rider #1 when he comes into possession of 's body due to an ability. *Lije breaks the fourth wall and tells they cannot summon a Giganoid, as the movie is over and Kamen Rider Faiz was coming up. This movie was originally double billed with Faiz's summer movie. *In , is seen using a credit card with the letters "CJX". This is an acronym for CycloneJokerXtreme, the final form of Kamen Rider Double. In addition to that, the lower right corner of the card features "CJX" on a green-white-black bar, the bar is also a reference to CycloneJokerXtreme, whose colors are green and black on the sides, and white on the middle. *The combined form created by Gai Ikari/Gokai Silver is reminiscent of the many forms of Kamen Rider Double. Specifically the LunaMetal form due to the colors used (gold and silver). When Gai first assumes this form in , he calls it "a two-in-one Go-On Wing" just as Double is described as "a two-in-one Kamen Rider." *In the V-Cinema special , after the adult ToQgers successfully transform for the first time, performs Kamen Rider #1's transformation pose and shouts "Henshin". *The series itself shares similarities to Kamen Rider Den-O. **Both series are train-based. **Both include concepts such as imagination. *In Episode 16, R3 and R4 perform the Kajibano Friendship Power Kick on a pair of Axtos grunts. The kick attack resembles the Rider Double Kick Kamen Rider 1 and 2 used in the original series. *In episode 18, R5's debut episode, Captain Ishiguro behaved much like a Showa Era Kamen Rider in some of his mannerisms. This included shouting "Toh!" when he jumped and shouting his attacks (Ex. "Rescue Punch!") **This in-joke is carried over to the next episode when one of the villain commanders named San says that R5 "Reminds him of the heroes of a previous generation". Another ironic twist is the fact that Ishiguro's actor would later play a Kamen Rider two years later. According to the second Blu-Ray release DVD package, the series' director Koichi Sakamoto designed based on King Dark from Kamen Rider X, while retaining the original aspect of Mold and uses 's suit in the making. Voicelugger is a Japanese tokusatsu that aired from January 12 to March 30, 1999. It was the last production by Shotaro Ishinomori, released posthumously, who intended for the series to be serious, while it was originally written to be a parody of older tokusatsu programs. Protagonist Akiko Homura/Voicelugger Ruby is a fan of tokusatsu series of the 1970s, particularly Kamen Rider. Others Tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider and have been cited as influences of The Aquabats. Their promotional video The Aquabats in Color! in particular features several homages to Kamen Rider as well as stock footage from Ultraman and Kamen Rider, such as a brief appearance of Shocker kaijin Mantis Man. Aquabat Cyclone.jpg|The Aquabats arrive on motorcycles not unlike Kamen Rider 1 on his Cyclone Bat Commander Rider.jpg|Each Aquabat receives their own shot mirroring the title shot of Kamen Rider Aquabat Typhoon.jpg|The Aquabat's belt flashes, reminiscent of Kamen Rider's henshin Aquabat Riders fight Combatmen.jpg|With Rider-esqe costumes, the Aquabats fight combatmen The Mauler.jpg|A 'masked marauder' appears, wearing a lucha libre wrestling mask like those of the Shocker Grunts CinemaSins When the narrator of the webseries did a review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he snarkily referred to Kylo Ren's Crossguard Lightsaber as a "Satan Saber". Maid: The Role-Playing Game One of the items available in this game is the Survive Card, described as "A mysterious card inherited from a masked motorcycle-riding sentai hero", which lets a Maid change into a more powerful "Survive Form". Video Games Amagami *Sae Nakata is a fan of the TV show Inago Mask. *Ai Nanasaki wears a belt that places a blue grasshopper on in references to the Hopper Riders from Kamen Rider Kabuto. The TV version also includes a voice similar to the Zecter as well as a Smart Brain-like logo. *KK Slider's song "Go K.K. Rider!" is a reference to the Kamen Rider franchise, along with the picture of KK Slider on a bike similar to Kamen Rider #1's Rider Machine. Block N Load *The achievement for activating your ability for the first time is called 'Henshin!' and the logo for the achievement depicts a belt. The belt itself designwise has the Typhoon's red strap with the Arcle's buckle. *The Kicker Skeleton, first introduced in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, is an enemy designed as an overall homage to the Kamen Rider franchise. An animate skeleton with a red scarf, it attacks by performing a diving kick, and when defeated its Ability Soul allows Soma Cruz to likewise perform a mid-air jump kick. The skeleton can also drop one of two items when defeated: its Red Scarf, or more rarely the Ancient Belt, which is modeled off of the Double Riders' Typhoon belt. Disgaea *Disgaea 2 features a character called Adell who uses a couple of techniques reminiscent of various Rider Kicks, his necktie also resembles the traditional scarf. *Disgaea 4 features has Vulcan perform a technique similar to the Tatoba Kick where medals drop after the target is hit. *Disgaea: Dimension 2 features an attack called the Space Galaxy Kick that plays out similar to Kamen Rider Fourze's Rider Kick. After the Episode 4 chapter ends, a "preview" for the next chapter is shown. It features a parody of the original Kamen Rider show with Etna wearing antennae and a belt and talking about saving Laharl from a mysterious organization. Girl Friend Beta In this dating simulation game, one of the female students, Nozomi Miyauchi is a Movie Club member and evidently a tokusatsu fan. One of the cards feature her in a Typhoon-like belt with a red scarf, mirroring Kamen Rider 1. There is also another card which feature her demonstrating the use of a Den-O Belt-like toy to a child. *Neptune from Hyperdimension Neptunia has a quote in which she says "From the start, I'm always at a climax!" This is a nod to Momotaros, as it is the Imagin's pre-battle catchphrase. The character, Nisa has a scarf, kicking techniques, as well as the iconic poses. *A quote from the character B-Sha in the Japanese version of Victory II is a female version of Yuto Sakurai's pre-battle catchphrase when he transformed into Zeronos. *Leona Heidern's Rebel Spark super move is based on Black RX's Revolcrash. Additionally, her jumping Heavy Attack is Black's Rider Kick, complete with a red energy aura around her feet. *May Lee from King of Fighters, specifically her Hero Mode pays homage to the early Kamen Riders. *In KOF: Maximum Impact 2, Hanzo Hattori (originally from the Samurai Shodown series) has an alternate color scheme that pays homage to Kamen Rider V3. *The character, Skullomania in Street Fighter EX was inspired by Kamen Riders including it's inspiration Skull Man. It's revised backstory and feud with his brother Shadowgeist in Street Fighter EX2 is a reference to Kamen Rider Black, as their respective stories focus on brothers who are forced to fight against each other with similarly identical powers. Super Robot Wars *The third generation Dynamic General Guardian robots RaiOh and DaiRaiOh are obvious homages to early Kamen Riders possessing scarves as well kicking based fighting styles. *When Excellen Browning uses the Gespenst MK II Type-S' Gespenst Kick attack in PS2 game, , one of her dialogue includes "Ges-chan jump! Ges-chan kick!", which is a reference to the chorus of Kamen Rider's opening song, Let's Go!! Rider Kick. **In the same game, when Arado Balanga uses the Wild Wurger's Victim Beak, he will sometime calls "Wurger Cast Off!", and when Arado uses Gespenst Kick, he will chant "1,2,3 Gespenst Kick!" and "Maximum Gest Power!", all of this reference to Kamen Rider Kabuto series. *In PS3 game 2nd Super Robot Wars Original Generation, when Arado Balanga uses the Grungust Kai's Keitou Ragouken Goousatsu (計都羅睺剣・五黄殺), he will chant , which is a reference to Fourze's Space is here!. Super Smash Bros. In this game series, the character Captain Falcon (who comes from the F-ZERO games), has two emblematic special abilities named "Falcon Punch" and "Falcon Kick", which are homages to the Rider Punch and the Rider Kick, respectively. *Characters in Viewtiful Joe have been influenced by both comic book superheroes and tokusatsu characters, including Kamen Rider. Additionally, the transformation sequences reference Kamen Rider's, though some of the characters say "Henshin-A-Go-Go" or some variant of that phrase instead of just "Henshin". Wonderful 101 The Wonderful 101 is superhero action video game for the Wii U made by Platinum Games. It has many references to tokusatsu superheroes. While most of them allude to Super Sentai, there are references to Kamen Rider in the form of two unlockable characters: Wonder Beetle (bug themed helmet) and Poseman (who in his profile does a pose similar to Kamen Rider 1). Wonder Beetle.png|Wonder Beetle Poseman.jpg|Poseman *Not only is this game influenced by both superheroes and tokusatsu characters, the enemies "Goon" in this game are the Shocker Combatmen from Kamen Rider. They are the weakest enemies in the game and they are used as a substitute for a boss that has been defeated, using similar equipment from that boss. The titular protagonist Pirohiko, shares a similar last name with Kamen Rider 2, Ichimonji. References Category:Kamen Rider Series Category:Kamen Rider Other Media Category:Content